Elfen Lied
Basic Summary Elfen Lied, is one of the most bloodiest and goriest anime to date. Elfen Lied is about a diclonius named Lucy who escapes her imprisonment to destroy all of mankind. The diclonius are mutated humans, who have horns on their head. They have a sixth sense, which gives them psychic powers. Each diclonius has a set of vectors in which are invisible hands that can’t rip through limbs without any effort. What makes these monsters so dangerous is that you can’t see the vectors and they have long striking distance. It is said that these diclonius are destined to end human kind, that’s why they were captured by the government. However, Lucy manages to escape and kill almost every security guard, but while escaping she falls into the ocean and washes upon a beach in which she loses her memory. She is taken in by Kouta and his cousin Yuki. Having lost her memories. Lucy is not dangerous anymore and she is like a child, so she can only say one word and that is “Nyuu.” A name given to her by Kouta, because she can’t say anything else. However, our dear Lucy isn’t out of the equation. Lucy does emerge once again, and thus our story begins of what human nature can do, to make a person hate it so much. Characters All main characters play their role as the anime plays out. However, the main story revolves around Lucy/Nyuu and Kouta. Considering that this anime is only 13 episodes long, the storyline of these two really was explained well. The humans characters however, are the victims in this anime. A lot of them die, by the hands of Lucy. However, there are some key human characters that are important to the story as well. Not every human character is a victim and are important to the overall story of how mankind is evil. The characters really go through emotional rides and have tragic stories, especially Kouta and Lucy, because their past are tied together, but to set the record, the anime put the humans as the villains in this story. Even though these diclonius are dangerous, you might feel sympathetic to their pain and their cause for hating mankind. You may think that these diclonius are emo in a sense, but that’s not the case. A lot of characters storylines display why human nature is evil. The characters that you may find of interest or like the most, is Lucy, Bandoh, the best human character on the show, and Mariko, another diclonius that appears to be a sweet little girl, but very deadly. Music and Sounds The opening theme song, is quite depressing, but it shows that this anime is about death. The ending theme is more of a happy ending, which I found strange, but it’s pretty cool. It’s call “Be My Girl.” As for the background themes, I have to say they really make the anime quite intense and creepy. As people die by the bunches, the themes give the scene an eerie feeling to it, which is good. As for the sounds, the voice were well done for the most part. The cast did a good job, but you might find one characters voice annoying and that might be Nana, another diclonius. Overall though, the anime does well in this department. Negatives I thought the anime was one of the best I’ve seen, however, there are some problems with it. I think the anime should have been longer. I give it credit for bringing the story home with only 13 episodes, but I wanted to watch more of Lucy. Okay, there’s nothing wrong with a lot of blood and limbs being cut off left and right. However, sometimes it’s just too much and repetive, but the deaths do have some creativity, but not all the times. These are the only problems I found. Final Judgment Elfen Lied is a must watch. The storyline is great, for only 13 episodes. The violent scenes are great. A lot of blood and grueling stuff, but you may find it over excessive at times. You will like most of the characters and their personalities. You will grow to sympathies with some of them. There is a lot tragic stories in this anime, so watch out for that. This is an anime for gore and blood lovers as well, so if you like that stuff, this is the right anime for you. You may also find the ending quite satisfying and shocking. However, to bring this review to close. Towards the end, you will understand that Lucy’s murderous rampage has a motive and it is not senseless. She has face the cruelties of mankind and this anime shows that a lot. Even though this is an anime, it shows a lot of truth on how mankind can be cruel sometimes and you might not blame Lucy for what she is doing. You may learn something about human nature. Elfen Lied gets 8.7 out of 10.